The Alien's Blade: A Sci-Fi Alien Romance (Craving the Heveians Book 3) by Ella Blake

Author:Ella Blake [Blake, Ella]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Table Rock Publishing, LLC
Published: 2023-06-08T16:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER 14

Wulfrex

“This place is like a maze,” Ryland muttered.

“It was a mine,” I said. “So yes.”

“What were they mining for here, anyway?” he asked irritably.

“My guess would be ashroc ore and vistran, judging by the type of stone here.” I flicked a finger over a thin, glinting yellow vein that ran up the tunnel wall. “Ashroc mining is often like this, with multiple tunnels that snake around as they chase bands of ore.”

“We’re headed the right way,” Axlos said. “That’s all that matters.”

As far as I could tell, he was right. The probes had identified the most likely center of activity, where we would hopefully find the Heveian male we had come to rescue. It felt like we had been walking for hours, and there didn’t seem to be a direct route to anywhere in this place. Tunnels wound here and there, dead-ending or turning circular.

I could tell that these types of missions were wearing on Axlos. He was older than the rest of us and he’d seen a lot. Leading our little band of rebels could not be easy for him after all this time. And now, with our species’ diminished since the disease, I suspected he’d lost his taste for raiding freighters and taking mercenary jobs. I suspected he missed Heveia. I also suspected that he yearned to return there permanently.

As for the rest of us, we would have to decide what we wanted to do. I thought I might not mind some time with my feet on the ground. I had a feeling the others were feeling that way too.

“Coming up to another junction,” Ryland said.

There always seemed to be another junction. “Take the right-hand passage,” said Axlos.

I thought about what Dani was doing right now. Whether she was behaving herself on the cruiser or cursing me out on the shuttle. Either way, she was safe. At my last check-in, Arria had said she was still in bed. This was a good sign. She needed her rest, because when I returned, I planned to tire her out.

Ryland stopped short and held up a hand. My focus switched to the hard look on his face, and my senses snapped to attention. I could hear it—the slightest sound of movement ahead. We dropped back against the wall. Ryland placed a hand to the side of his helmet and pressed. His face was pure concentration as he listened.

After a moment, he turned to us. “I turned up the volume on my sensor. They know we’re here. Seems to be a mix of cybots and hired Laroshian guards.”

“Incoming?” Axlos asked.

Ryland nodded. “Prepare yourselves.”

We took defensive positions and powered up our blasters. All of us had done this so many times, we didn’t need to speak further. We had fought together many times. We had hauled each other out of massacres and patched each other up when things had not gone as planned.

We had been expecting an ambush since something wasn’t right here. I hefted my heavy weapon from its massive scabbard on my back, set the charge for full and waited, tense and ready.

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